Trust

Our summer has been really rough, dry, dry and glaring heat. We lost a lot of pasture, trees and bushes to the drought. It finally rained a little and things have greened somewhat, but I have had to take the goats on our walks, farther and farther from the house.

This requires a great deal of trust on their part. Because the farther we go from their home the more vulnerable they are to danger and the more they have to rely on me to keep them safe. Some dangers ARE really bad, like predators, and some, (as with humans too) are things only goats can envision in their imagination. Now I have seen them deal calmly with howling wind and crashing thunder & lightning then practically have a heart attack over a blowing leaf. Horses will do this too. I'm sure it has something to do with being a prey animal and instinctive reflexes that kick the flee response into overdrive.

Which makes it all the more remarkable that they trust me to lead them out of their pen and off into the wild twice a day. I appreciate it and am flattered. This was no easy trust to win. When they came to me as babies, they had not had a lot of human interaction. They were whisked away from mama, stabbed with hypodermic needles and stashed in the back of my car and then put into a pasture where nothing was recognizable. They huddled together and glared at me...and ran from me...and screamed bloody murder when I tried to pick them up- no joke if you haven't heard a kid goat cry out in fright or pain, you haven't heard anything. It is heart wrenching - They ran as if I was a goat eating tiger.

Those smart little goats made me work for their trust. It didn't come easy...and even now 3 1/2 years later, Bessie is a hold out..who frequently gives me the evil eye and snorts at me. It has taken it's toll on me. I have had to give up a lot for them..sleep, time, money. I have been knocked down, tripped, had to dig through 4 ft of snow, made emergency vet trips, learned to give shots, spend hours and hours giving comfort and aid...only to be snorted at and glared at and rejected.

And then one day, Fritz, my big black wether, walked up to me and rubbed his head on my leg and nibbled on my shirt sleeve and I melted. And we started taking our walks, me and 7 very interesting goats.

Every day I learn something from the animals on our farm..patience, perserverence,courage, but their trust is a gift...AND an obligation because now I have to live up to that trust. Everything in the animal world mirrors ours. We have predators after us too and problems and dangerous situations and people in our lives. We should all demand that the people we bring into our lives earn our trust and renew it daily. Just I have to do every morning and evening when I go to the goat pen and say, "Come on goats, let's go walkies!"